Columbia Settles With 'Mattress Girl' Victim, Who Is Not Mattress Girl, Somehow

Even if Columbia is apologizing to the right person, it's for the wrong thing.

(Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

In one corner, you have a woman who claims an Ivy League university botched and mishandled an investigation into sexual assault on campus. In the other corner, you have a white guy who claims he was victimized by an art project.

Guess which one the university settled with.

If you answered “white man with perceived boo-boo,” then you are right, of course. Bonus points if all I had to tell you was “woman” vs. “white man” for you to know which one the university decided to give some money to.

Columbia University settled with Paul Nungesser. Emma Sulkowicz accused Paul Nungesser of sexual assault and anal rape, but a university investigation cleared Nungesser of wrongdoing. In protest, Sulkowicz started carrying a mattress around with her on campus, to illustrate the burden on women. She earned national attention, and the moniker “Mattress Girl.” Columbia even gave Sulkowicz academic credit for her performance art project.

This credit, evidently, angered Nungesser. And probably some other white men who clenched their fists as they dragged around on the ground. What, pray-tell, is the point of being cleared of sexual assault if your alleged victim still gets to walk around expressing her opinion? Isn’t the whole point of a university investigation to silence and shame women who dare to come forward? What kind of university are we running here if a woman, a mere vagina with mouth-parts, who feels mistreated by the system is lauded by the system for protesting the system?

Aren’t the real victims here the white boys? Like, always? Where is there a “safe space” for white men accused but cleared of sexual assault?

Sponsored

Nungesser sued Columbia for “outrageous display of harassment and defamation.” The “outrage” was, I guess, letting Sulkowicz carry her mattress around, as opposed to, I don’t know, suffocating her underneath it or something. The suit was tossed in federal court because it’s a FREAKING IDIOTIC LAWSUIT. But Nungesser refiled, intended to appeal, yada yada. You mess with the white man, you get the horns.

Instead of continuing to fight for the rights of their students to protest the university’s own investigation into sex crimes, Columbia settled with Nungesser. Get a load of this statement:

“Columbia recognizes that after the conclusion of the investigation, Paul’s remaining time at Columbia became very difficult for him and not what Columbia would want any of its students to experience. Columbia will continue to review and update its policies toward ensuring that every student — accuser and accused, including those like Paul who are found not responsible — is treated respectfully and as a full member of the Columbia community.”

Columbia’s hierarchy of needs seems off to me. If I were running a university, I’d think I’d want my students to feel the following, in order:

1. Ensuring students are not anally raped.
2. Ensuring claims of anal rape are thoroughly investigated.
3. Ensuring that students who claim they were anally raped, and students who claim they’ve been falsely accused, feel like the investigation was thorough and fair.
[4 – 498]. Ensuring education and information about sexual assault is provided, enforced, and taken seriously.
499. Ensuring sexual assault art can happen to raise awareness.
500. Ensuring people who are cleared of sexual assault violations do not get their feelings hurt.

Sponsored

I say all that as a man and as a father of sons. If, God forbid, I am falsely accused of sexual misconduct, the only way to save my reputation — THE ONLY WAY — is for everybody to believe that the investigation into those claims was real, transparent, and fair. “Men’s rights” advocates don’t seem to get that having strong investigations into sexual assault is a way to PROTECT MEN, as well as women.

As it stands, I don’t have to believe Nungesser sexually assaulted Sulkowicz. I just have to believe that Columbia didn’t fully investigate Sulkowicz’s claims. This settlement — Columbia’s capitulation to a lawsuit that likely would have been thrown out of court again — actually makes me more certain that Columbia never intended to provide Sulkowicz with a fair and thorough investigation. The settlement therefore further damages Nungesser’s reputation, while making Mattress Girl seem all the more righteous in her protests.

Columbia is apologizing to Nungesser for the wrong thing. They didn’t create an environment where Nungesser could be treated “respectfully and as a full member of the Columbia community,” because they didn’t make his university acquittal worth a damn. Process matters. Transparency matters. If somebody calls you a leper, you want to be able to say, “Nope, no leprosy. Here’s my note from the freaking MAYO CLINIC. I put my medical records online so you can Google me.” You don’t want to be defending yourself with “Uhh… my local priest laid hands on me so… I’m cured now! Pinky-swear. No, with my other pinky.”

If Columbia wants to avoid this situation in the future, they don’t need to quash art projects, they need to provide an investigative process that women and men can believe in. That’s how you protect both the accuser and the accused.

Earlier: Good News For Columbia In A Controversial Case

Columbia Settles With Student Cast as a Rapist in Mattress Art Project [New York Times]


Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.